News, Opinion, and Media Analysis on Cincinnati, Ohio and the World From a Unique Perspective

Saturday, August 31, 2002

Voters to decide drug issueYet another statewide story gone missing from the pages of the Enquirer and Post. This ballot issue should bring many advocate ads on both sides, that might get ugly. It sounds like a fun time for all!

CincyNation.com seems to be showing a clear bias in their comments on this story:
"Jail the leader, just like the old South during civil rights movement
The 1st Ohio District Court of Appeals upheld Nathaniel Livingston Jr.'s conviction and sentence for disrupting a speech by Mayor Charlie Luken at the Oktoberfest opening ceremony in Fountain Square. It reminded us of the old South. If all else fails, jail the leader. Link to story"
Where the hell did they get this? This "us" they mention, is that the same "us" that is a boycott supporter? This comment is unfair and unjust. Nate Livngston deserves what he gets. He is no civil rights leader; he is a bigot, a racist, an opportunist, and an attention whore. Trying to compare him to the civil rights leaders of the 1960's is ludicrous, and it is even more outlandish to compare his prosecution to acts of the Old South. I have not seen this website exhibit such unabashed bias before, but I will have to keep better watch. It is one thing to comment on story and criticize it, but it is another thing to make outlandish exaggerations with no basis in fact. CincyNation has made a big mistake in mixing its news links with it editorial. If they want to be a blog, then be a blog, don't try to be an objective source of news, and bait and switch it with opinion.

GUTIERREZ: For blacks onlyKaren Samples Gutierrez again is telling us that the white community is perpetuating segregation. I again ask for examples of it. Do we perpetuate segregation by simply acting out the mainstream culture, instead of embarrassing the urban black culture? Are we racists because we do not accept the desire of some of black community to be submissive to their culture? If we don't accept them we are bad, but if they don't accept us, they are just celebrating their own culture? This is nuts. Karen, I think you are out on a limb of selective freedom. I can't be myself without oppressing them, but they can be them self without any repercussions. This is the epitome of a double standard, and I can see nothing but "white guilt" overtaking reason.

CAA capitulation prompts resignationThe key paragraph: "Judge Jones said Friday that he could not tolerate a decision by the agency board to move its annual dinner out of a downtown hotel simply because board members were afraid after being threatened with physical harm."
This sounds like it vindicates the lawsuit by the Cincinnati Arts group and it supports Peter Bronson's Column. Why the newspaper only has Nate Livingston as a spokesperson is a mystery. How can anyone trust a convicted criminal's claims? Was he the first person called or the last person called? Linda Newman and Amanda Mayes were not answering their phones? Nate’s claims were rather dubious, at best. These threats should be investigated. This has all of the earmarks of extortion. I hope the police and/or Mike Allen do not shy away from the firestorm that would be created in going after the "thuggish" boycotters who made these threats to the CAA.

I wonder what it took to get this story into the newspaper and to get it as a top story? This kind of incident has in the past only been in Peter Bronson’s columns. What changed in this set of facts? Does Judge Jones’s words carry more weight? Does a former Mayor, Bobbie Stern, raise so many eyebrows that no one can avoid this story? I hope the Enquirer keeps this kind of reporting up, and does follow-up and see if any prosecutions occur. Will Mike Allen look into this? Will the CJC find a patsy? Stay tuned.

W. Chester officials try to shut out adult shopsMore fascism on the March. Why are people listening to Phil Burress? Why do they embrace theocratic fascism? I know many people need to be told what to do, especially when they are told to tell others what to do, but do they have a shred of individuality or freedom? I guess they fear the young boys will grow up to be guys who like to look at naked women. That sounds like something horrible!!!! Oh the humanity!!!!!!!

SMITH AMOS: Lincoln Hts. reunionDenise Smith Amos has hit double with this column. She correctly and cogently covers both angles of this situation and calls out those who have made a bad situation that had improved, even worse.

Friday, August 30, 2002

CityBeat: Burning Questions "Do You Want to Know if a Politician Uses Racial Slurs?"The answer to that question is yes. I want to know. I want to know everything a politician does that relates to his job or a current issue in the consciousness of public discourse. The case that Greg Flannery brings up is not as clear-cut as he alludes with his comparison to Dick Nixon and the Nixon tapes. One is a first hand source: the Nixon tapes. The other is a second hand source: the deposition.

For the record, I think Simon Leis Jr. is a fascist, and should not be in office. I also think Simon Leis has many other prior actions that have bordered on or been in full violation of either the law or of department policy or both. Facts of these actions have been reported in the past and are only relevant here as a measure of Leis's credibility.

Credibility is the crux of this case, and where the media’s trust lies. This issue has at its core an issue of credibility on the part of Mr. Leis and William Engleman. I do not know who is telling the truth here. It is legally a moot question in regards to the discrimination lawsuit, which caused the issue to come to the surface. That lawsuit was settled. Media outlets have to judge whether or not these allegations have any merit to them, and if those allegations are “news.” If they pass those tests, then they should print the story.

These allegations were not just the rantings of some nutcase off the street. Instead a former member of the Sheriff’s department, while under oath made them. Even though there are other allegations made about this source, from a sworn statement from Mr. Leis, it is a credible enough source to be reported. The allegations as indicated would be news in any situation, but they take on greater meaning in light of the police-community relations issues that have been the forefront of nearly all political discourse in this city for the last 2 years.

The Post and Enquirer, as well as the rest of the local media (except for City Beat), were derelict and should have reported this story. I am surprised that the TV outlets have not reported the story with a hot button issue (the "n" word) that can draw big ratings. However, I do not see a disingenuously hidden agenda on the part of the local in not reporting this story. The only hidden agenda that might exist is the same agenda that keeps stories like Peter Bronson’s BRONSON: Tainted vote in a opinion based Column, instead of a straight news story. That agenda is an attempt to avoid inflaming a tense city. In this case I think the story would spin the Lt. Col. Twitty case into an even more racial charged battle than it is, if that is possible. I wish the other media outlets would not worry so much about reporting the truth, instead of keeping an image, whether the image is of a peaceful city or a righteous civil rights crusader.

I am glad Greg wrote this article, but there is one major problem with it. He is concerned with whether or not Leis said a racial slur. This is the holy grail of racial politics. In this case the real issue is whether or not Simon Leis fired an employee because of her race. Greg did not ask that question in his article, and as far I know, no one else has either. That is the material story. If the only evidence to that story is the racial slur, then I see no proof of discrimination. If there were valid reason to fire this person, then no matter what level Leis’s alleged bigotry rose to, saying what he is alleged to have said would not have risen to the level of discrimination. The problem is that the world at large would not see it that way. The “n” word is like yelling fire in a crowed theater in this country, and no matter how deplorable Leis is as a person, words alone do not make discrimination.

Thursday, August 29, 2002

Chris at Queen City Soapbox comments on City Beat's Porkopolis. I agree with Chris on his support for Dave Schaff running as the Democrat nominee for the 34th House District against Tom Brinkman. I would vote for a monkey or dead man instead of Tom Brinkman. Brinkman is a far right zealot, hell bent on theocratic anarchy.

Press Release from Boycotters - 08-28-2002 (pdf format)This is just filler. If this press release were food, it would be an empty taco shell. The boycotters are championing a recent editorial and some alleged comments from the City Manager to try and push their negotiations proposal forward. They have no meat to feed the public. Instead they have hollow motives. They are trying to bait and switch the City. They are raising a fig leaf, but they are not out to negotiate, they are seeking the capitulation of Luken and the Council. This group does not speak for countless ragtag list of inbred organizations that claim to support the boycott. Nothing positive can come from this group, short of calling of the boycott.

Two more hotels pull sex moviesWhy do we tolerate this form of Theocratic Fascism? Why do we allow religious zealots to extort legal and vibrant businesses? Why do allow public officials to waste time with the private lives of individuals, doing no one any harm, while ignoring the many thefts and robberies that go unsolved?

Tristate A.M. Report: "Festival says no to ride provider" (scroll down)Well, it would appear that the planners of the Lincoln Heights festival will not be using the amusement ride vendor who had pulled out from the festival last week. It appears that the organizing committee decided they did not want the company because they "didn't feel the crowd would be accepting of them." That infers that the organizers feared that the vendor's rides would either be boycotted or the equipment and/or ride operators would be in danger of possible hostility, verbal or physical.

Chris at Queen City Soapbox raises a good point on Bronson name dropping. Adding Stonewall Cincinnati to the groups that participated in the NAACP boycott is a gigantic overstatement. The boycott was a small number of people, and if one or maybe two Stonewall members were there, who are part of the CJC as well, that does not justify listing Stonewall. Bronson is known for his religious based stances on almost everything, including sexual orientation, and shows his colors by dropping Stonewall into the fray for no other reason by to lump them with bigots and racists. Chris is also correct about Stonewall heading for disintegration over the backing of the boycott. Kathy Wilson has reported on what has happened at meetings recently.

Major union may bust boycottThis is one huge test for the boycott. If the AFL-CIO caves into to this group, that will show some real movement in the effectiveness of the boycott. If the AFL-CIO does not cave they will be called every kind of racist there is to be called. I would bet the union rank and file would be very against the boycott and most of the boycott demands except the pro-union demand listed to try and bring the unions into it. The Union leadership sees this as the only way to gain power in the changing politic of the city and the nation. The far left socialistic economic policies are dying hard and fast with the populace. Liberals like myself are full-blooded capitalists and might support the right of workers to unionize, but deplore the 1930's mindset in methods and goals. I bet they will not cave totally, and look for some kind of compromise.

This news article seems like a plug for the boycotters, adding the pressure the boycotters want. Additionally, if your main quotes are from Nate Livingston, you must have really been scraping the bottom of the barrel.

The “Go-Getter’s” Ups and DownsUPS: John Schlagetter sent me an email over the weekend about a post of mine covering the Phil Heimlich semi-controversy about his stint as a radio talk show host on WRKC-AM earlier this year. This issue covered whether Phil’s stint on the radio amounted to a campaign contribution. I do not know if it does or not, but it should be investigated. John’s point was to differentiate Alicia Reese’s and Ken Anderson’s radio shows and he is correct. Both Ms. Reese and Mr. Anderson had different situations than Phil Heimlich, but overall each of the three raised the issue of politicians jumping back and forth from candidate/office holder to member of the media, ala Pat Buchanan’s revolving media door. My point was not to allege either Ms. Reese or Mr. Anderson had violated any campaign finance laws. My point was to question media outlets that hire politicians back after the election season, for which I question both WRKC and WDBZ.

DOWNS: John was filling in as host for Jay Love today on the 1230 the Buzz and he made a comment about Peter Bronson’s Enquirer column called “Tainted vote: NAACP intimidated by thugs.” John took Bronson to task for using the term “thug.” John seems to hate that term, mostly for its overuse. I can say the same for terms like “healing” and “change”, but that is a different issue. Here John is not fair in claiming Bronson used the word totally on his own volition, with an implied purpose of demonizing the protestors. The protestors do a find job of degrading themselves, but I digress. Norma Holt Davis, local NAACP President, is quoted in the column: “the protestors were ‘thuggish,’ she said. ‘I stand by that.’” I realize that “thug” and “thuggish” are not exactly the same word, but they are close enough for Bronson to use the noun form of the word in his column subtitle. John, in my opinion, took a cheap shot at Bronson. Bronson deserves to be knocked down often for many of his columns, but not this one.

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

BRONSON: Tainted vote"The only thing more amazing than the news in this town is the stuff that is not considered news."
Peter you need to address this issue with the newsroom of the Cincinnati Enquirer. You readers cannot do much about it, beyond bitch about it like I am.

On Monday WLW talk show host Mike McConnell read on the air from this column or a similar unpublished story about the same incident and included information that the protestor “broke” into the NAACP offices, banged on walls, and barged into the local NAACP board meeting and stayed until they board “voted” to change the site of the dinner. Mike facts correspond with the Bronson column, but go a bit further in implicating the intimidation and coercion used by protestors, or what could be called, most appropriately, THUGS.

CityBeat: 'Continuous Pressure' - Interview with Rev. Lynch IIIOne word: Softball. There were a couple of questions that were semi-critical, one about Islam over Christianity, and the other about Lynch's father supporting Billy Graham. The separatist question had promise, but without knowledge of any follow-up questions, it loses all meaning. In that question he did confirm that he wants an afro-centric society, or at least he wants a separate afro-centric society. This is a passive form of black separatism. What I still do not get is what is the difference between euro-centric and afro-centric? What is euro-centric? I have never been to Europe, well except that I think I was conceived in Spain, but other than that my culture is American. I am not European. I like Europeans. There are commonalities between American Culture and European Culture, but they are clearly not the same.

What is it about American culture that Lynch does not like? Does he hate the fact that historically most of the faces one sees are not black? Is that it? I don’t fathom his position if it is not separatism. He wants to live in what he calls afro-centric, but I think it is clear he wants a black dominated society. He thinks that is what white people need: “Maybe it's time for the 30 percent white kids to sit through an Afro-centric education, the way we had to sit through a Euro-centric education.”

Mr. Lynch and the boycotters have no desire to get along with the mainstream society. They want to live in a society where they are dominant. If I reject it, I am called a racist, as my hate emailer has pointed out to me. I have no choice but to reject their bid to take over the city and seek revenge on the white citizens of the society. It appears that the boycotters will not be satisfied until they can form their own Apartheid society here in Cincinnati. They want a South Africa style system where instead of white control; they are in control.

I know that some of my readers are hoping I am going over the top. I really hope I am over the top on this issue, but I see little evidence to sway me that my extreme conclusions are not really that extreme. How far apart are the views of the “Black Fist” from the Black United Front? I would hope the are miles apart, but the “Black Fist” is a hate group, the equal to a neo-nazi group, and I do adhere to the adage that you are who your friends are. If you are friends with and are supported by a hate group, you are a hate group.

KORTE: City HallI have no problem with Ms Lemmie speaking her mind. I do think it is unwise for Charlie Luken to have her speaking to the media on a regular basis about non-specific city business. Lemmie is not a political official, she is an operations manager.

I clearly disagree with her contention that slavery reparations are an issue that should be discussed by lawmakers. If that is the case why don't lawmakers discuss giving the Nation of Islam their own state as they wish? Why should we do neither, you might obviously ask? We should not discuss crimes of lineage or appeasement. I am not responsible for the crimes of my father let alone the alleged crimes that my great-great-great grandfather, who most likely did not commit any crimes against blacks, and probably knew few, if any black people. I am sure to get more hate mail, but facts out way the bigotry of a few.

Transit tax levy faces oppositionThe region needs this transit program, holding it up now will only keep the Federal Government from fully funding their portion. It is true the entire region should be flipping the bill for this system, and the sales tax increase is the way to do that, but don't hold back change now because you want more money now for your own pet projects. Luken, with Cranley in tow, is making hay with the anti-tax sentiments that run through almost every voter out there. Opportunism is not going to build a new transit system.

Lawsuit against boycotters dismissedI am going to restate my scenario on this subject from my prior post on this issue. Would it now be legal for me to send a letter to suppliers that have contracted with Kroger to make shipments to the Cincinnati area with the following statements:
1. Since Kroger sells widgets and widgets are "evil", I am advising you not to ship you products to any store in Cincinnati.
2. If you do ship your products to Cincinnati, I cannot rule out the possibility that violence might breakout at some of those stores.

Is this a legal action? Is this not similar to what the boycotters have done?

A big warm welcome to the Blogosphere to Chris Anderson over at the Queen City Soapbox. I look forward to trading links and comments with another local Cincinnati Blogger. I have to thank him for listing my site on his, and I will soon be returning the favor.

Gov. Taft expected to campaign for mathThis is not a news story; this is just reformatting a press release. I wonder if the Enquirer will do this for the Democratic candidate? I will not be holding my breath.

CincyNation.com wants the City to SettleTime for leadership: Settle with the boycott group now rather than laterWhen all is said, the city of Cincinnati will settle with the boycott group. So why not settle now instead of allowing this continual barrage of bad news to severely damage Cincinnati's reputation regionally and nationally?

The economic damage has been staggering and can only get worse. A settlement between the city and the black community will happen because there's no other alternative.

Do it now before the damage can't be undone.

August 20, 2002

Appeasement will get you nothing but a bigger boycott. There are people boycotting who will boycott until they get their own country. I am serious. They will not stop boycotting until they are granted a "black dominated" country. Don't cave in to extortionists.

Judge tosses anti-boycott suitSo let me get this straight. If I write to all of Kroger's suppliers and tell them they should not make previously contracted shipments of their products to Cincinnati, and I tell them that if they do make those shipment against my advice violence might break out, then I have not broken any laws?

Suburbanites eschew downtownJay Love wanted to call this a boycott. This is not a boycott. This is just an economic reality. He is right, however, that suburbanites not coming downtown are doing more damage to the downtown than current boycott has done or will do.

More on Riverfest ComparisonsJay Love from 1230 the Buzz agreed with a caller today that "racists" tend to use statistics when arguing. This contention was made by a self-professed minister named Bill. Bill was referring to a prior caller on Jay's talk radio program. As a further extrapolation, Jay went on to try and equate the actions of the riot after the Black Family Reunion to last year’s Riverfest where 12 of 2,000 to 3,000 is less problematic than 35 of 500,000. He focused on the fact that 35 is more than 12. I think Jay might have flunked math as well a relational science. If you are going to compare something, you have put them on an equal playing field.

I wonder if Jay listens to his show after it is over. I wonder if he makes note of his mistakes. Jay made the claim that Riverfest is just as bad or worse in terms of crime than what happened after the Black Family Reunion. How is .0048 better than .00007 as a rate of number of crimes per person? Does Jay only like comparing "actual values"? I guess he has some fear of exposing the problems in the black community on a quantitative basis in comparison with the "white community". I don't really think that is true. I have heard him speak on the rate of unwed mothers in the black community and how it compared to the mainstream community. He feels they are out of whack and speaks to how that can be corrected. I am puzzled why he is trying to downplay the violence acted out by this group of kids after the Black Family Reunion.

BRONSON: Black parents 'mortified' after meleeBronson seem to be a bit behind the curve on this one. He seems to be reacting to the talk radio vibe and maybe even the blogosphere??? I doubt Pete is a blog fan, but you never know who might be reading my site.

Hate MailI got my first hate email! You know you are doing something right when you get email like this:

Subj: You Still Suck!
Date: 08/26/2002 6:19:15 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: incredibleewf@yahoo.com
To: cincyblog@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

You are still a newsboy who can't get a job at a real newspaper. You suck! And you have no credibility. You frequently misspell words. (Can't you afford a spell check?) You suck! Your website has two letters written by that dingbat and poverty pimp Linda Berger. The letters seem to be written by an elementary school student, yet you post them on your website. Face it, you have no credibility! And in case you missed it, you suck! Damn racist bastard.

It is too bad that this coward could not at least sign his name. My reply:

Sunday, August 25, 2002

Local Woman's Body Found Under RefrigeratorThis is one of the those cases that on the surface could write itself. I would guess Drugs are involved. If not drugs as the cause of death, I would surmise domestic violence as the second choice. I am not familiar with Richmond, Indiana's crime rates, but I would think they don't get many homicides there. This case will fall through the cracks unless something "sexy" or somehow children were involved. And so it goes.

Rides return for Lincoln Hts. festivalThis appears to look like a single employee of Star went overboard with some bigoted viewpoints. I am glad this issue has been resolved allowing the event to go on. What is disturbing is that the owner of the company who was interviewed by local TV did not want his face shown on TV. He was motivated out of fear, ether to be considered a racist, or that he would be targeted by someone because of his race.

BRONSON: DNA test could prove he's not child molesterOne day Pete is a libertarian-conservative and the next he is a populist-conservative. Today I just see him being a plain old conservative. The three faces of Pete might make a good after school special; maybe PAX would pick it up.

SMITH-AMOS: Heimlich talking or campaigning?This is a big issue that gets little attention. Ms. Smith-Amos rightfully brings out Phil Heimlich's deal to get free PR. Phil is not the only candidate to straddle the media line. Alicia Reece, Vice-Mayor of the City, and Ken Anderson an independent Candidate for city council, both have had radio programs of a similar type to Heimlich's but instead on WDBZ 1230 AM.

PULFER: Jungle Jim needed downtownThis is a great idea, but that is why it will not get done. Good ideas that change things will not get support in this city. Only stale ideas get support in this city.

'Star Trek' convention raises money for DemocratsThe Enquirer suddenly realizes there is an election for Governor in just over two months, and it realized it with an article showing negatives about the Democratic candidate. It is amazing how the Enquirer would run a news story about the how the Democratic candidate is lacking money, is linked with Hollywood, nerds, and Bill Clinton. I don't think Bob Taft's lackeys could have written a better story.

Twitty case: How car wreck came to inflame city's woundsThis is a good summary of the fallout from the Twitty incident. The most telling event is the automatic and prejudiced reactions heard from callers on the Buzz and from other leaders like Scotty Johnson and the ever-irreverent Damon Lynch III. They new nothing of the information, but they assumed that since it was a white chief suspending a black officer, that must be an injustice. I do not understand this attitude. I understand it exists, but I cannot grasp why people believe such propaganda. I also do not understand why this kind of bigotry goes unchecked and unchallenged by the media and by the black community, and I will continue to beat my head against a wall trying to get that word out to the public.

Saturday, August 24, 2002

News - No Shirt, No Shoes, No Baggy Pants?This is an old story, but I had a personal experience with "baggy pants". On Friday, while getting lunch on 6th Street, I was subjected to following a man, aged 20 to 25, with his pants below his ass. He had on boxer shorts, so nothing was showing, but this was disgusting. The man not wearing a shirt and was carrying a small child. I think his pants even had a belt. I was never close enough to him to comment, but I was contemplating doing so. I was thinking about how to say I thought what he was doing was wrong, without being label a racist. Our, I did not mention this guy was black. That is not really important, except for my hesitation of going out of my way to tell this man to pull his pants up. I also hesitated a bit because he was not a kid. That made me conclude that he was wearing his pants this way on purpose. I had seen an earlier example of this on a younger person while driving along Central Parkway. This person was around 16 to 18 years old, and was walking with a girl of similar age. I was in my car this time and did not stop of course. No one else was walking around the couple, so my motivation to stop was very minimal.

Is this supposed to be a fashion statement? It appears to be more like a primal mating ritual. This man yesterday just strutted like a peacock down 6th street during midday lunch rush. This must be a self-centered person who really needs the attention. Well, I have given it too him, but I think those who read this and those who saw him came away with the same impression that I have. This person is ill-mannered, inconsiderate, and self centered. I wish I could have said something to him, with the fear of being called a racist because any white person questioning the actions of a black person is more often than not considered racist by the black community and "white guilt" crowd.

Phone line disruption debated"She said 911 and emergency service dispatch centers were not affected, because they have redundant and backup systems to be able to continue to operate."
Not true. I dialed 911 to test it out the night the wires were cut, and I got nothing. So Ms. Long is not correct. I think we are going to get a little bunch of nothing in a credit for lost service, a couple of bucks at most. I want to know who will or has lost their job over this.

Lemmie has right to speak out, but ...This story was very thin on facts. Chris Monzel, the opportunist at large, was either sticking out his neck or left out to take the fall for critiquing Ms. Lemmie.

RADEL: Disease carriers --Dead birds seem to rain from the sky"Don't panic, I told myself. Don't succumb to West Nile virus mania."
To late there, Cliff, I fear you have pushed the panic button and now the easily scared soccer-mom will be filling up the SUV with gas and food, and locking the kids in the storm cellar.

Evidence that the media has pushed the panic button: from the Enquirer and the Dispatch.

GUTIERREZ: For blacks onlyIs this just more "White Guilt" run amuck? I am the only liberal in this town not to feel that the white man is not to blame for the ills of the black man? This quote from the column seems to be amiss of detail:
"White people don't say much, for instance, about the unseen forces that keep African-Americans out of the suburbs. Or the disparities in the quality of health care received by blacks and whites, as detailed in a March report by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine."

"Unseen Forces"? Is this the same “white hand” keeping the black man down? What about the "unseen forces" that keep my white ass from the suburbs? I call it my lack of a bank account balance greater than a down payment on a house. If a poor black family making $25,000 with bad credit thinks they are kept from buying a $100,000+ house in the suburbs because of the color of their skin, then I think they are either misinformed, ignorant, or suffer from delusional paranoia.

The health care issue can be traced to economic class. Blacks are not denied health care because of the color of their skin or any other reason. Anyone can go to a hospital and be treated if injured. Whites can afford more health care on average because whites are wealthier on average. Saying it is racist that whites on average make more money is a stupid as saying it is racist that more blacks play professional basketball. Blacks cannot gain wealth by osmosis. It takes playing the game of the mainstream economic culture. You either assimilate into that mainstream culture, reaping the benefits of existing business structures, or if you want your “own”, you then must fend for yourself.

Blacks have nearly the same opportunities as whites. There is racism in this country. There is not that much of it, however. What there is more of is cultural bigotry. Whites in general and middle and upper class of all races do not “like” what I can only term as "urban black culture." That is a term that I cannot quantify with a specific meaning. It is not meant to be the same as "black culture" which is as much of a myth as "white culture." Those terms are used for simplicity's sake. When people complain about black youths running on the streets they don't generally intend to defame a race. Some do mean to do that, but they are an insignificant group.

Those that are called racists today are really they type of person who hate the inner city black culture. If you took a black family that shared much of the same attitudes as they did, they would have no major problem befriending them.

What really is the problem on this issue is that blacks define their culture based on race. They group themselves on race and generally race alone. Whites and other races to a lesser extent do not do that. Whites, again with exceptions, group people by ethnicity. Irish, English, French, Spanish, Polish, German, or Greek is how they are viewed. Blacks in America may have some subgroups, but they would be defined almost solely by class, not ethnicity. Blacks view "African-American" as an ethnicity. On a certain level it has the characteristics of one. Blacks have been treated like an ethnicity historically, but when in the last 50 years blacks seemed to have accepted being African-American as an ethnicity and comparing it to being White or "European-American". This is a big mistake for many blacks. Whites today, and generally historically, do not view ethnicity the same as race. Until this concept is understood in the black community there will be conflict. I can go on and on about this, so I will end it here. I will have more as the days and weeks go on. I don’t see a meeting of the minds anytime soon.

Friday, August 23, 2002

Hagan's campaign to run ads on Internet"The Hagan for Governor campaign, bereft of money for television ads, will wage its media war via the Internet -- a risky strategy never before tested on this scale in American politics."
The reporter seems to be forgetting the last Ohio Senatorial campaign, where the Democrat did the same thing, and lost. I am surprised this story has not hit Cincinnati yet. I guess the Enquirer and Post do not even want anyone to know that Bob Taft has an opponent. Here is Hagen's Website. Taft's site is here.

Lemmie: Businesses must listen to boycottersIs that steam coming from Charlie Luken's ears? Lemmie has guts for saying this. She also sounds like she is ready to give up and cave to the "demands" of the boycotters (terrorists). I had no criticism of Ms. Lemmie so far, but I think this was a huge mistake. She is fueling the boycotters. She seems to share sympathies with the boycotters goals, but not the means. I have no problems with some of the demands, but most of them are unreasonable, or just plain moot. She has taken her first big step as City Manager, one that rivals the role of the Mayor I might add, and that step was into the forest. Her first grade is a D.

NAACP ProtestThis was a clearly a racist protest, and here the boycott website is playing it up with pictures. If this was the KKK in black face, the media would be charging like the Calvary. Bigots to left of me, racists to the right! I guess the boycotters have no shame of the racists they consort with. Also something you should note, there are maybe 10 people there protesting, if that many. How could the NAACP cave in to a mere 10 protestors? I smell something fishy.

Boycott targets Boss, gameIf Bruce caves into the boycott, I will never listen to his music again. I am surprised that the boycotter finally got off their asses and started to target non-black artists. I wonder if they are going after the Boss in hopes that Clarence Clemons can sway things for their cause. The other reason is the national attention such a boycott would pull. Bruce's tour is getting tons of PR from his record label, Columbia Records part of Sony.

1230 the Buzz The Week in ReviewThe hypocrisy was rampant on today’s show.
Jay will challenge a white man called "Lumpy" and his generalizations about blacks, but he will not challenge the black racists who every day on the Buzz call in and make far more objectionable and invalid generalizations than "Lumpy" was making.

John seems to think that looking at a group of black men while sitting a light justifies a group of drug dealers from trying to intimidate him.

Excuses for youths rioting seems to be something Jay and Emmanuel like to perpetuate.

John can generalize about whites, and that is ok?

Double standard again, Rafael can't read between the lines, but Emmanuel can "translate" for the boycotters who call into the program.

City, activists to discuss curfew complaintsThis is a capitulation. There was no selective enforcement of the curfew. There was practical enforcement of the curfew. In the non-riot areas in April 2001, 99%+ of the residents adhered to the curfew. There was instead a selective disregard for the curfew in the riot areas. This issue stems from the ignorance of the extreme boycotters. They seem to be ignoring the exceptions for being out after the curfew. One was an emergency, and the other was work. They moan and cry about bars in Mt. Adams being open. They were allowed to be open. The city did not close down business; they just forced people off the streets. This will go nowhere.

Thursday, August 22, 2002

NAACP changes plans for dinnerFirst the gutless Urban League, now a gutless NAACP. The picture of William Kirkland, a boycott support and bigot, that accompanies this story illustrates two realities of this situation. One is that these protesters are literally now the "Clown Posse", as Peter Bronson called them. Two is the continued double standard in the media regarding black racism and bigoted acts. Wearing "black face" by a white person who is protesting would be considered a racist act. William Kirkland wears "white face" and gets his picture in the paper with no indication that what he did can be considered a racist act. I don't know which reality is more poignant, but both points are clearer than settled Cincinnati tap water.

Reply from John EckbergFirst my Mia Culpa: I addressed John as Jack. I saw his email address and saw Jack when it was Jeckberg. I am sorry about that John, if you are reading. This will also explain why I was addressed as such in the email.

i meant civil disobendience in the sense of violent civil disobedience as opposed to nonviolent civil disobedience. if i had to do it over again, which i don't, i'd probably use the term civil distress or civil discord or civil anythingbutdisobedience. i'm not convinced, however, that civil disobedience can only be used to describe nonviolent acts.

clearly the story laid out the violence as i was the first and probably only reporter in the whole town to actually find and interview a 15 year old. you should have read beyond the first sentence.
thanks for your comments and time.

john eckberg

Ok, first the definition of civil disobedience from dictionary.com: "Refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means." The events this weekend were in no way civil disobedience. John reply is way off there. He is right that the word could be used to describe violent activities, but the word in usage is rarely used with violence. In this case why it was really wrong were the kids' motivate for breaking the laws, which was not to induce a changed in governmental policy or legislation. They were out to act tough, flex their teenage muscles, and attract attention, some of the lowest emotions humans are prone to express. Note: I did not mistype the letter above. It is as it came to me.

SMITH AMOS: Black Family ReunionThis column was not bad, but one issue stuck in my craw.
"Next year, they should add more police on horses, patrolling the streets in cars with lights going, and stationed at the transportation hubs and gathering places."
In less than 2 weeks about 500,000 thousand people will be on the riverfront. I have been there myself, including last year. After the event, on the Cincinnati side, there has to be at least 100,000 if not 200,000 thousand people who walk up Broadway or other streets into the business district. There are not cops lining the way up there. There are not many cops at transportation hubs. Why is that a crowd, half of which are under 21, can walk in huge groups and not run rampant and start attacking bus drivers? I just don't get why 100,000 people can go without rioting, but a few hundred kids can't walk a mile without breaking a few windows. Is it just me?

I could not get past the first sentence:
"Two consecutive nights of civil disobedience in downtown Cincinnati will make the Black Family Reunion 2002 a memorable event — but for all the wrong reasons."
How can you call this civil disobedience? Did I miss something? Was there a protest? If you said "uncivil disobedience", then you would more on target. I think you and your editor might want to rethink your terminology. I guess you would call April 2001 riots an "uprising"??? I really suggest that you remove what can only be considered bias.

Brian Griffin

I would guess the bias comment would label me a right-winger. If you don't know I am a full-blown liberal. A Henry Fonda liberal is a colorful way to put it, but I don't know how else to cut my liberalism away from the progressive-populists that are called liberals by the conservatives. I would bet this reporter received a ton of emails, so I doubt a response will come.

Midday with McConnellThe pseudo-anarchist in Mike McConnell came out today. Personal responsibility taken to the extreme is anarchism. When a society determines it is your responsibility to not be robbed, raped, or beaten, then it is an anarchistic society. If Mike wants to live in
Society where it your responsibility alone to prevent yourself from being beaten for walking down a street, I really hope he plans on moving from the Western World, because in a civil society we don't blame the victim and bring shame on the victim for not fitting into his conformist pseudo-anarchism. As a note, yes, it is a contradiction for anarchists to be conformists, but much like the neo-anarchists, who are really just progressive-populists, the pseudo-anarchist is not really what he claims to be.

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

Parents Cite Drugs As Root Of Downtown DisturbanceBlaming drugs? Baloney! This story has two main flaws. 1) It only quotes two parents who dodge the blame by dragging out drugs as the cause. That is a garbage claim mainly because the Police made no arrests for drugs and no reports at all indicated drugs. 2) The reporter went to Over-the-Rhine for this story. We don't know where most of these kids came from, but I would guess that those going for the buses were not from OTR. This reporter is turned a hack job, and boo to MSNBC for pushing it as the number one local story on its website.

Random Comments on Jay Love's 1230 the Buzz Show Today (08/20/2002)Jay wants blacks to support black owned media. So if I say support "white owned media", how long before I am called a racist?

Jay can't make any assumptions about the teenager pictured on the front page of the 08/20/2002 Enquirer, but he can say that he expects 700 WLW hosts or callers to refer to the kids who rioted as "savages". That might be good enough for Sensible Don's insensible comments page.

Does Jay see the irresponsibility in giving a forum to black separatist groups? The more you allow racists to spew their propaganda unchallenged on the air, the more listeners who will start agreeing with their propaganda.

I am losing a lot of respect for Jay over this issue. His attitude appears to be to dismiss what happened, and infer that is was no big deal, a media hyped event done by the "white" media to try and tarnish the Black Family Reunion. The BFR has been tarnished all by itself. When a festival is held to celebrate and promote a strong black family, and it ends with the children of a large number of black families rioting, the irony can't help but be seen.

Victims Of Weekend Violence Speak OutThe article stated “the event itself was problem-free.” The event was not problem free, there were fights and kids running out of control at the Festival. I think that was a bit of biased reporting.

Final Reply from John SchlagetterI don't think John has enjoyed our email exchange, and was not over joyous to have me publish them. He has a quasi-blog, but seems none to keen on mine. Well, I will just have to post my opinions here on his comments. It was fun while it lasted. I would guess that he thinks I am at least a bigot. I would be one of the white people he claims is in denial over the rampant racism. I will post a retort to this email tomorrow, if I have time.

Mr. Griffin. Oppression and repression do not have to be codified to exist and occur.

I believe the caller you cite identified himself as a Black Panther (an aged one at that if memory serves me correctly). I do not recall a specific statement that caller made which merited a challenge, and I was unprepared (in re the absence of my scheduled guest) to engage in a discussion of the merits of either the Black Panthers or the New Black Panthers. I did, if you recall, cite my disagreement with Malik Shabazz's characterization of Saddam Hussein as "poor old Saddam Hussein doesn't even have a can of Raid."

When callers to my show or, when necessary, any show (I currently am out of broadcast range during the day and therefore do not call or fax in) makes an inflammatory, patently inaccurate, or biased statement, I do challenge it. One reason I like Pat Barry's show is that he typically does allow such language to go unchallenged, unlike Bill Cunningham (I cannot speak to Mike McConnell's show).

I am aware of your blog but I have no interest in participating in an Andrew Sullivan-Paul Krugman style flame war. While I recognize that email connotes no guarantee of privacy, I consider it private communication akin to letter writing and telephone conversations. Regards,

The weirdest thing he kept on doing was call me Mr. Griffin. I called him John all of the time. I hoped he got the hint that I was not trying to be super formal and he did not have to put on his politician manners, but I don't mind the formality. I felt tacky by not showing the same, but oh well.

RedHawks’ anxiety over playing the Herd is risingThis is from a Huntington, WV newspaper. It is a sports column. I think the writer has lost his mind or was drunk as a skunk when he wrote it. I am serious. This column makes no sense, has multiple factual errors and sounds like someone who is off his medication.

For downtown, a lost weekendThe one day I miss Jay Love's Show and he makes such a claim, that was reported in the above Enquirer article. I have been to Riverfest 4 out of the last 5 years, and this event had more than two times the number of people on the river at 9 PM the day before Labor Day, than the Black Family Reunion had all weekend long. There were not wide youths running around beating up bus drivers at the last years Riverfest. I was there with a friend of mine, his wife and young child. There were no problems. No one needed to take shelter in a radio station booth from a bunch of kids fighting. Jay Love seems to be misinformed. I really wished I had heard his show. I will be listening today.

Monday, August 19, 2002

Someone at the Buzz or Radio-One is Reading MeThe following referrer link to the Cincinnati Blog was logged this morning.
"http://mail.radio-one.com/exchange/jlove/Inbox/another satisfied Buzz listener.EML?Cmd=open&tzoffset"
I know whose email inbox this is and I hope my reply is forwarded to him as well. I could imply the email header as a knock at me, but I would be assuming the tone of it on just supposition. I think it is logical and reasonable supposition, but still nothing conclusive. I don't really mind, I just like airing all of the hands that were touching my emails.

My Reply to John Schlagetter's ReplyI was not to elegant with my words, and a raised a new issue that I had not before, but I think I got my points across. As you can read below I belatedly informed John I have been posting our email exchange to my blog. I assumed he read it, so I hope he is not displeased. He tends to be one not afraid of an open discussion, and as former candidate for council he must know his words are open season to public consumption. Here is my reply:

Thanks for your reply. I am a regular listener to you and the Jay Love show. I do have a good idea of yours, Jay's, Emmanuel's, and Shawn's various opinions. The one opinion you all seem to share is that the "white man" has done harm and is doing harm to the "black man". I take great offense to your statement ".....I would be remiss in not identifying the ways in which whites, in fact, repress and oppress non-whites." If you had stated repress and oppress in the past tense, I would agree, as stated I find that to be wrong. If you are implying that non-whites are being "oppressed and repressed" currently, then I say show me examples of laws on the books that oppress or repress non-whites today. If you think non-whites are being "treated" poorly by "whites", then I say what a grossly biased generalization.

While I understand you are doing a show, I do have a problem with what you did in taking a call from a member of the New Black Panther Party. To me, that group is no different from the KKK or any neo-nazi group. If Mike McConnell from WLW took a phone call from the a local KKK member and failed to fervently challenge nearly every claim that KKK member stated, he would be lambasted by everyone for giving a platform to clear and open racists. Every media outlet would rightfully condemn him, and the outlet you appear on would surely be leading the charge. When a similar caller appears on the Buzz, and it does to almost every show everyday, there is not media outlet condemning the Buzz, outside of myself and maybe Sensible Don's website. I realize that you are not a regular daily host and don't have a position of power at the station, but do you not agree that giving a nearly open and unfettered forum to hate groups makes the Buzz at least partially complacent in fostering these hate group's agenda?

I really enjoy listening on Friday's to the "Week in Review." I think it is generally very entertaining and informative, but often everyone on the show let the extremists off the hook for their clearly racist comments they often make. I would encourage you to encourage the powers that be at the station to take care to try and not give a blank check to hate groups.

Thank you again for your reply. As a note: I have my own local blog and I have reporting on our conversation, and I often report on what happens on Jay Love's show, so you can retort my comments there if you ever have the notion to disagree with me. Have a good day.

1230am The Buzz of CincinnatiI was surprised by the Buzz's front page listing some news. One of the stores was about the occurrences at the Black Family Reunion this weekend, including a link to today's Enquirer story about yesterday's day two of the riots. This is a good step for the Buzz. They should include a regular news section on their website. I would hope it is as objective as the listing of the stories today. My only suggestion is that they create permanent pages with the news stories or create some type of archive.

Cincinnati festival ends with more arrestsThe AP wire story from Columbus Dispatch about day two of the riot. This time it was a true "mini-riot," as this is such a quantifiable event. (Note the slow drip of a sarcasm.)

Miami University bans smoking in dormsThis is bold for Mother Miami. My junior year roommate smoked and did not smoke in the room (except a few times). I don't think this will matter much, but I wonder how it will go over on western campus. I also wonder why the hell this is not on the Enquirer or the Post. This might be a hot topic for local talk radio this week.

Sunday, August 18, 2002

John Schlagetter's ReplyI was surprised to get this so fast, but I was glad to get a response. I don't agree with the response, but I appreciate my opinion being heard. I am crafting my reply, and will be sending it later tonight or tomorrow.

Mr. Griffin: The tenor of your email presumes my positions on these issues rather than inquiring about them. Within the limited confines of a one hour radio program (closer to 40 minutes once commercials and callers are netted out), I try to cover many subjects primarily to hear from others. I present information and, when I feel it appropriate and not propogandistic, my opinion.

I take great issue with many representations of the NBPP4SD and statements made by Malik Shabazz and Endure X. It was not my intent today to debate the merits or veracity of the NBPP4SD; I wasn't going to talk about it at all except my guest didn't show. Instead, I wanted to introduce the subject and hear what callers had to say.

In regards to reparations, I'm fairly sure I talked about the difficulty in dimensionalizing not just the problem but whatever solution may exist. My conversation at the show's end with "Lock and Load" addressed just such concerns. Contextualizing the issue within the realm of additional issues you cite (suffrage, etc.) is part of the problem; however, I do not believe such analogies are reasons to not have the reparations discussion.

You don't have to tell me about the KKK: my first appearance before a Committee of Council was to discuss the Klan and I cited the FBI's characterization of it as a domestic terrorist organization.

Yes, the first purpose of talk radio is to entertain. I attempt to do so with bona fide information and considered opinion. I do not "blame the white man," but having talked to as many thousands of Cincinnatians as I have, I would be remiss in not identifying the ways in which whites, in fact, repress and oppress non-whites.

Had I time today, I was going to address the xenophobia evidenced by the NBPP4SD; my "non-responsiveness to outright racism" simply isn't so. I repeatedly (when relevant to the conversation) state that blacks can in fact be racists; however, when discussing the impact of racism, that of whites grossly outweighs that of non-whites.

Rest assured, I won't be calling you anything, and I am promoting no such thing as "revenge on the 'white man' by blacks." Such a statement lacks fails the straight face test. I assume you had tuned in to listen to Ken Anderson's show- perhaps if you listen to The Week In Review on Fridays from 1-4 and my regular Sunday Buzz from 2-3 you will develop a more holistic opinion of my views. And don't hesitate to call in with your views- 749-1230.

John Schlagetter Has Lost My VoteHis white guilt and his "blame the white man" opinions are nuts and I wrote him an email regarding his program this morning on 1230 the Buzz. I wonder if John's promotion of the racist and black separatist New Black Panther Party is done to keep him on the good side in case they ever take over the country. Oh how the ignorance and emotional rationalizations prevail. If he ever runs for office again, I will not vote for him. Here is my email:

I agree with you on many or even most issues, but your ambiguity on Reparations is just nuts. Should I blame myself for the oppression of the Irish because I am English, while also being Irish? Should I sue the US government for allowing the oppression of me by religion? Should women sue for being denied the right to vote and own property? What you are being ambiguous is old world sectarianism. You are allowing extremists groups to gain credence from you opinion. The New Black Panther part party is listed at Tolerance.org as one of several hate groups in the US. These are listed right next to the KKK and skinheads. I really hope this is just a way for you to entertain your audience, and not your sincere viewpoint, but I fear not. I voted for you in the last election, but your blame the "white man" view points and your non-response to out right racism in your interaction with the New Black Panther Party is something I cannot consider to be a reasonable position for any person. I will not vote for you for any office ever again. You can call me a white person in denial all day long, but you seem to be promoting a movement for revenge on the "white man" by blacks.

Battle of the Local News OutletsUsing their websites as guides, which into today's climate if you don't have a good website then you are behind the times, I will rate the local major news outlets on this story.
Enquirer: gets an A-; The were the only outlet to have their website updated last night and did it twice within an hour. The only get a negative because they did not have anything additional to report this morning and only had one picture.
FOX19: gets a B+; They had one the most telling quotes in their story that hit the web page this morning, and they even put crawl on the screen last night to warn people not to go downtown.
700WLW: gets a C+; They are the only place for live broadcasted breaking news on the half hour, which they had at midnight, but at 12:30 AM they only listed the weather and a national news update, nothing on the local news, not even who won the baseball game.
CincyPost: gets a C-; They do not publish on Sunday so not updating their website is normal, but on this kind of story I would have called someone in to the newsroom and at least used a wire story for it.
WCPO and WRKC: both get D's; They have not updated their websites at all which is par for the course for the weekend for both stations.
WDBZ the Buzz: gets an F; They went off the air after midnight last night and this morning they had live programming and they carried on as if nothing had happened. If I did this post later they may change programming one they go live from the Black Family Reunion, but at this point it is awful.

Disturbances in Downtown CincinnatiWXIX who usually takes a soft stance on the problems surrounding the black community, really took a hard stance here. This quote from Cecil Thomas sums up the problem at its core: "My question is where are the parents? Why are these kids still roaming the streets totally out of control? It makes me sick to think here we try to have a nice event and then parents allow their children to run like this and be out here at this time of night."

Youth Violence Erupts DowntownAn update on the riot. I really have to take pause. These "youths" were at the Black Family Reunion, and the police indicated that one of the main causes was "large numbers of unsupervised youths caused the violence." Is this an illustration of current status of the Black Family? Are blacks youths not getting the supervision and direction they require from their parents, or are they to far gone to be control by their parents?

Police contain unruly youths (Riot)Hot off the presses! I applaud the Enquirer for getting this story on the web this late and this fast. At around 12:00 AM the local Fox network station WXIX ran a crawl over its programming advising the public of "disturbances" (meaning riot) downtown and advising people to stay away from the downtown area. This is just not a shocker to me. I am not surprised that this kind of thing happened. I wonder how good the reporting on this story will be tomorrow (today). The races of the rioters were not mentioned in the article, which is not a surprise. The question is did people from the reds game and the black family reunion both involved in the riot or just from the black family reunion? Could there have been a conflict between races? I say this only because of the subtitle of the article "Crowds leaving Reds game, Reunion roam downtown" and this quote: "The Cincinnati Reds game and the Black Family Reunion festivities at Sawyer Point were letting out at about 10 p.m., when police began reporting large groups of unruly people at different points in the city." This is rather vague and it seems to be either an ass covering for not knowing if people from the game were involved, or it was an attempt to try and show that they are not assuming the presumably whites at the game were not implicated in the riot to appease the black readers.

Update: Korte has updated the story and removed my big quote above. The revised story indicates that the riot was minor and was caused mostly from people from the black family reunion. The police scanner has had reports of several instances of shots fired in different part of the city, in Over-the-Rhine and the area Northeast of the Coryville area.

Saturday, August 17, 2002

Slavery Reparations Rally on C-SPANThis was a rally for black racists, black bigots, and black separatists. If this was the KKK it would not be on TV. I sent a letter to C-SPAN about this:

Dear C-SPAN,

I really found much of the Slavery Reparations Rally to be nothing more than a forum for black racists, separatists, and bigots to spew their propaganda on national TV. There is no real outcry about this from National media or even in the right-wing media outlets. The event appears to be the same degree of racism as a KKK rally or other Neo-nazi groups might have. The only thing missing at the Reparations Rally was the overt call for violence. Some groups there however would be in favor of using violence to achieve their goals of revenge against the "white man." I wish there was a way to have equal time for racists, but I think that would do more harm than good. I would have preferred that you not air this event at all.

B. Griffin
Cincinnati

This event has two themes: Where's my money and how can we seek revenge on the "White Man." The real question is: will the local boycotters be in DC or protesting the Black Family Reunion?

Mandatory Pledge?What purpose does this serve? I find it to be forcing schools and school children to accept the religious belief that the USA is subject to the rule of the Christian "god". I can only assume that this school board member wants a general form of theocracy. It is a violation of freedom of speech to force anyone to say the pledge. I would think that would include teachers and other school employees. This sounds like micromanaging by a politically obsessed school board member. I hope Winifred Clayton of Fairfield takes the freedoms of the students and staff of the school district she represents into consideration before taking action. Mandatory performances of required oaths and pledges is something that should not be taken lightly. We value being under oath in court or the various oaths of office, but if she thinks the forcing schools to say the pledge does not have the purpose of being both political and religious, then I think she is lying to herself.

Black group wants lawsuit dismissedIt is simple. Damon Lynch, if you want the lawsuit dismissed, you first must end the boycott. You think that is extortion???? Look in the mirror. That is what you are doing every day with your boycott, or should I say your shakedown.

Friday, August 16, 2002

It appears that Zee over at Roadsassy is either playing along with the Bill Cunningham hoax on WLW or is a sucker and bought it hook, like and sinker. My earlier post today seems to have an example of fact vs. fiction and the problem WLW has with reality and with truth.

Jay Love, afternoon talk show host on 1230 the Buzz, does not get it. On his 08/15/2002 show, he railed on a letter to the editor of the Enquirer. This letter discussed the Black Family Reunion in town this weekend, and the letter talked about how a "White" Family Reunion would be called racist. The letter writer is correct. A reunion would be called racist by many many blacks if it was called such and celebrated "White History and Culture". I really have no idea what "White History and Culture" is supposed to be. Is it European in basis? Well, parts of my family have been in this country since 1630 when they left England, and that same family only came to England in 1069 from France. I am really French? I don't want to be, but I can't fault My mega-great-grandfather Mr. de la Feld. I however am American. I really don't have any other culture to fall back on. That culture is a mixture of many elements of other cultures, but I don't view myself as needing to celebrate what I know I am. If I were to celebrate being an American, I am sure Jay would not want to attend my reunion and more than I would want to go the Black Family Reunion.

Jay is missing the point on his flawed comparison between having the Black Family Reunion and an Italian Festival or Octoberfest. He seems to equate being Italian or German to being Black. Jay wants to combine his race and his ethnicity into one item and expects others to not get a little miffed when he does it. If Jay were to have a Jamaican Festival or a South African Festival he can compare it to Italians or Germans.

The real problem with the name is what it means to most people. I think Jay views this as a Reunion of Black Families, but the name appears to compare itself to the Smith Family Reunion. The Smith Family Reunion is for Smiths. It is not about promoting being a Smith to the outside world, it is just for the Smiths of the world to get together and share their common lineage. When I hear the term "Black Family Reunion", I think of a get together for blacks together and share their common lineage. This just does not sit right with me. This Black Family Reunion is drawn not on blood relatives, but instead on race. The letter writer's point was valid and a name change would go a long way to draw in "whites".

Bill Cunningham hoax backfiresWLW should not be whining about this. You live by the crass hoax, you die by the crass hoax. Mike McConnell was all up in arms over this column by John Kiesewetter on his WLW radio program today. I think Mike and program director Darryl Parks need to rethink that which they spout off about when talking about their radio station. Mike says the Kiesewetter just "doesn't get it." What does he not get? Does he not get the inside jokes? Does he not get why your station does this kind of programming? I don't get that. I know this kind of programming goes on all the time on WLW, but unless you listen regularly, or know the hosts personally, you have little clue as to when WLW is being honest and reporting information, or when you are making stuff up. I don't mind that they make stuff up, and try to have fun. The problem is, as I have said before, they want to be both a serious radio station with news, and they want to be a sophomoric station where cheap stunts gets you a really "vanilla" audience. In this case it is intellectually simple, instead of being puritanically pure. If WLW wants to be a goof off station, fine, but don't try to be a news station as well. I can't trust anything I hear on that station as being factual. Mike even thought Monty Python's Life of Brian came out in the early 1970's. Damn, I was not born until 1972, but I could tell by the production value it came out later than that. Plus, I new where to look up that it was released in 1979. People do listen to what you say, and when you market your program on 15 minute segments, and when the average person listens for 15 minutes and can not tell that Cunningham is just "pretending", don't be shocked when one of those people act on Willie’s claims of fact. When I hear WLW hosts whine about the truthfulness of politicians or others they don't like, I will be laughing at that host, and I will be posting here their hypocrisy.

BRONSON: Defending Iraq Why the media get no respectBronson should look before leaps, or in this case read before he pontificates his preposterous prejudices. Bronson seems to be acting like Kathy Wilson in one respect. Both seem to like to live with dual ideologies. Kathy switches between liberal and progressive populist, while Pete goes from right-wing conservative to a conservative libertarian. Pete seems to want the press to just shut up and let Bush rule by decree, no questions asks. This is not the kind of article I would expect from a Journalist. I don't even think the hard-line conservative columnist Cal Thomas would agree with Bronson. Sure Cal would spout his usual neo-theocratic rantings, but he wants a critical press. Bronson seems to want a New York Times that is a cheerleader what ever adventure his buddy Dubya wants to go on.

If Dick Armey, Henry A. Kissinger, and Brent Scowcroft are not enough for Pete to see that his trite 1950's anti-commie attitude really even falls flat on its face in the eyes of some conservative heavyweights, then nothing will. I know Pete lives in a bubble, and he trying to force that bubble on the rest of us, but I wonder if knows how fragile it is. Don't look now Pete, you might just be the odd man out in the GOP someday. Well, that is a reach on my part. The GOP by definition can only regress, progress goes against their National Platform.

And another thing:Bronson writes: "There's ample proof that Saddam collaborated with al-Qaida and Osama. "
Where the hell does Peter get this kind of information from? If he has the ample proof, then let his readers read it. Either Peter is talking out of his ass on this one, or he has sources in the government that would make any Washington Journalist jealous. Since Peter is only a lowly columnist in Cincinnati, and not working for Gannett at the Pentagon, I will bet on the former.

I have been marooned since Wed Night9,000 Cincinnati Bell customers lost all telephone service Monday Night. As of this morning I still had no service. I think this has clinched that I will be getting a cable modem in the near future and maybe a cell phone too. I am happy to be back blogging, but I may not be back again until Saturday at 5 PM.

Almost 10,000 Customers Are Without Telephone Service This is what caused my outage, and here is a story of the same from WLWT. This morning the phone company's spin was that the 9,000 were down to only 2,800 people. I was still part of the 2,800 people. The Enquirer and the Post seem to have just ignored the story, I guess they believed the 24-hour claim made yesterday, which has since gone by the wayside. I hope Cincinnati Bell makes me happy with a reduction of my bill. I want something reasonable, like a free month's service. I will be lucky if they give me 10% off on the monthly charge, not including taxes and fees of course.

Also, I will not have access to my email during this period. I feel like I am living back in 1989, oh the humanity.

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

CityBeat: Editorial -- Festival Seating Return Is Past DueI agree most strenuously with Mr. Fox. I really don't know what drives the mainstream media to make this issue more than it is. Well, I do know why they do it, they can't live without drama, without carnage, without another chance to show the archive footage of clothes strewn on the ground outside Riverfront Coliseum. Nothing can drive the local media like a tearjerker.

CityBeat: Your Negro Tour Guide The Scarlet 'L' I thought I could avoid it, but I am a sucker for a cliché. You go Girl!!! I have leveled Kathy with lots of criticism on her dance from progressive populism to liberalism and back again, but on this I have to applaud her means of handling Dwight Patton.

I also wish to point out that Dwight Patton is not a liberal; he is a populist of the worst kind, socially extremely conservative, and economically socialist. I will not understand how anyone could align themselves with a bigot like Patton or the BUF. I do not know why Stonewall joined forces with this group or the other similar groups in the boycott. This guy is not that far from the bigotry of the likes of Jerry Fallwell, but you don't hear the condemnation from the PP's or many Libs. I for one am sick of the bigots that seem to get free rein on 1230 the Buzz spouting hate speech toward every race but their own, and at homosexuals particularly. I hope Jay Love reads this column.

New local magazine to hit shelves Sept. 5I can't find a website for this magazine yet. I will keep my eyes posted for a url, but I will be surprised if one appears anytime soon. I am shocked someone is starting a new magazine, about Cincinnati of all places. I hope it succeeds.

Comair cites bodyguard's gun, lack of paperworkThis sounds like a valid reason to keep anyone off the plane. I think Comair let this story go on to long without getting this message out quicker. I may have to check the Israeli press for coverage of this explanation.

RADEL: Festival seating too riskyCan we call Cliff the Drama Queen of the Enquirer? Did he read my post on his prior column? I don't know, but he certainly seems to be in line with the Enquirer's School Mum attitude. Cliff seems to be stuck on emotions left over from 1979. He also seems to be stuck in the mindset that any "risk" is too much. I guess the thousands of festival seating deaths since 1979 have convinced him that the ban is completely justified. Oh, what do you say? There have not been thousands or even hundreds of deaths from festival seating? I can't name any other deaths from festival seating at all. I personally have survived 3 Dead shows back in 1989-1991 which all had more than 5 times the number of people in festival style seats. No one died at Live Aid in 1985. There were injuries at the various Woodstocks, but mostly due to the mosh pits. Why doesn’t cliff protest Riverbend's festival seating? I just don't get the misplaced emotionalism.

The Enquirer Sinks to a New Editorial LowDid the editorial board hire Phil Burress? I think they just read Phil's website, CCV. The Enquirer wants to claim pornography hurts people, and they use the recent arrests of the international child porn ring. 99.9% of pornography is not child porn. Child porn is disgusting, is clearly illegal, and those doing it should be caught and beat on. Child porn is RARE!!!! It is not common. If you read the Enquirer's editorial today you would think that is the only porn people can get. If I use their "logic", I must conclude that every Catholic Priest is a child molester. That would of course be absurd. I must ask the Enquirer to tell me who is hurt by making or looking at hard-core pornography? Child porn does not count, so don't try that again, it is already illegal. Next they might drag out Ted Bundy. I really want to know where they get their support for stating: "Violence and perverse behavior linked to pornography use is documented in research." Whose research??? The CCV? I would bet there is research still out there by some religious nuts showing that masturbation will make you go blind. I also hope that the conservatives who like their porn don't blame this on "liberals" as they blame them for everything else. This is not a liberal method; this is Phil Burress and the theocratic fascists. The Enquirer is to prudish to even put their opinion pages on the web. I guess they think that will keep people buying the paper. And so it goes.

BRONSON: A doper's view of the drug warIs Peter Bronson dead? I don't know wrote this column, but it is not the conservative Peter Bronson. The only thing that might account for this column is that someone slipped some doobage into his cornflakes. I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I read this. I don't know if I will ever take anything Pete writes seriously again. I know this is a libertarian issue, but if Pete would take the libertarian view on religion, he might not be such a right-winger wanker.

Jason Priestley seriously injured in crashBreaking News, I see nothing on local news coverage of this, even though they cover the Kentucky Speedway quite heavily. WLWT is missing the boat, they are on live this morning, but are not providing any remotely large coverage. If CNN is reporting it as breaking news, you would think local news, where the story is really local, would be on the story.

Friday, August 09, 2002

The Truth Is out ThereI would like to respond to Mark Wagner's comments in last week's letters section Blacks Part of the Problem issue of Aug. 1-7). How dare he blame the black community for the problems in Cincinnati? Does he know who he really should blame for the racial problems in Cincinnati? Here's the real truth.

First of all, go down to City Hall and confront your arrogant mayor, your clueless city manager and your airheaded city council members, who wouldn't even know how to run a marathon let alone a city. Then, go to District One headquarters, the most corrupt and evil organization in this one-horse town, and confront Police Chief Tom Streicher.

Why doesn't Wagner and people with his thinking accept the fact that Cincinnati, Ohio USA is an overly and ridiculously conservative, racist city? Cincinnati doesn't believe in change, progress or justice for all. That's why there is a boycott in this city.

Now, before Wagner points his finger at the black community, he should take a good damn look around and see the racism and injustice in this God-forsaken city. That's the real truth!

And if you can't handle the truth, my advice is don't mess with it.

-- Fredrick Malone fredrick.malone@worldnet.att.net

Freddie needs to get a clue. Show me the racism. Write it down and publish the incidents. I will then ask you to listen to 1230 the Buzz on a given weekday, and then write down the regular callers who spout the vilest racist dogma I have ever heard. They at times eclipse the worst KKK idiot. They are allowed to do this everyday, and some of them are even guest on the weekends or one even has his own radio show. The hosts on the weekday shows emote veiled shock at their comments, while giggling at the controversy it gins up. You can't compare anything that you hear on WLW to the racism and constant bigotry that WDBZ has on its airwaves on a regular basis.